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From June 12 to 16 2015, Prague, the capital of Czech Republic, hosted the CEZ Chess Trophy 2015 tournament. The city is home to David Navara who has been challenging world class players in this very event for thirteen years now. This time

he competed against the current number 9 in worldwide rankings, Wesley So. No doubt that this was going to be a tough one for the thirty year-old Czech. He has gone a little bit over board a few times before and has had to comply with bitter defeats on home turf at previous CEZ Chess Trophy tournaments. His score account from 2003 to 2014: two victories (against Viktor Korchnoi and Sergei Movsesian), two ties (against Anatoly Karpov and Boris Gelfand), and eight defeats (against Shirov, Short, Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Polgar, Svidler, Yifan, and Nakamura).

During the four scheduled matches (90 minutes/40 + 30 minutes – 30 seconds/move from 1st move) Navara had the chance to finally come off winner at the event which he hadn’t managed to do since 2011.

The chess event began with a simultaneous introduction of the players at which Wesley So impressively demonstrated his skills. Within an hour and forty minutes, the American faced twenty-two opponents, eighteen of which he effortlessly beat. Three duels ended in draws, while one match, against the event’s manager and sponsor Libor Kicmer (ELO 1992), ended in So’s defeat. The two of them were no less than 800 ELO points apart.

Navara had relatively good chances on a victory this year, as he is at a high point in his career. His ELO amounts to 2751 points at the moment and in a live rating shortly before the tournament he ranked 13th in world rankings.

However, Navara had no luck this time and a suspenseful draw in round 1 was quickly followed by a defeat in round 2. Round 3 was again an agreed on tie, which meant suspense until the very end. Navara could have turned the tides to an overall tie with a victory, but his efforts were useless. The Czech had to admit defeat and lost the competition at a final score of 3:1 to Wesley So.

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June

13.

14.

15.

16.

Names/Round

Nat.

1

2

3

4

TOTAL

NAVARA

CZE

1/2

0

1/2

0

1

SO

USA

1/2

1

1/2

1

3

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David Navara lost 26.7 points in the ELO live rating and again fell behind on rank 27 in worldwide standings. What a setback!

This year’s edition of the French Top 12 Club Championship “Championat de France d’eches interclubs Top 12“ were scheduled to take place in the Southern French city Le Grau-du-Roi (close to Montpellier) from May 30 to June 9, 2015. The tournament was fought out between the country’s twelve best teams at the local yacht club’s casino. Eight boards were stage to the chess duels which were arranged in everybody-against-everybody playing mode. Final results were only determined by those matches with definite outcomes.

Anish Giri, Arkadij Naiditsch (both Team Bischwiller), Wesley So and Dmitry Jakovenko (both Team Clichy) as well as David Navara and Radoslav Wojtszek (both Team Mulhouse) are only a few of the attending internationaltopstars next to the best French players.

After Round 10, the final winner was already determined by Bischwiller’s 2:1 victory over Strasbourg (winning points Giri and Edouard), while the bronze and silver medals were also secured prematurely. Unfortunate was not only the Team Poitier-Migne but also Arkadij Naiditsch who was so many points short at the event that we won’t even be able to find him amongst the players with ELO-ratings of 2700 points and above.

From March 10 to 18 2015, the traditional chess tournament Reykjavik Open was staged for the 51st time by the Icelandic capital.

Among the 274 participants from 37 countries were 35 international grandmasters, elevating the event to world-class level.

93 of these participants originated from Iceland, 36 came from Norway, 15 were Germany, each 13 from the United States and Denmark, and another 10 from Canada and France travelled to Iceland to make sure that their countries were well-represented at the tournament.

The upper thirty ranks of the worldwide standings were embodied only by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, David Navara, and Pavel Eljanov.

Dutchman Erwin L’ami who was not considered a favorite player with an ELO of 2605 points, delivered and excellent performance. Even the last critics were convinced in Round 7 when he defeated Mamedyarov (ELO 3756). He managed to remain completely undefeated until the final round – only then he lost to Eljanov. Nevertheless, he won the overall tournament: with 8.5 out of 10 points, he secured first rank which was absolutely deserved after an ELO-performance of incredible 2826 points.

Brazilian player Alexandr Fier surprised as well, ranking 4th after beating Navara in Round 8. The Frenchman and bronze-medal-winner Fabien Libiszewski performed high above his usual gaming level with an extra 200 ELO points.

The first ten ranks were rewarded with prize money ranging from €350 (10th) to €5.000 (1st).

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Final Results Top 30

Rk.

Name

FED

Pts.

1

GM

L’ami Erwin

NED

8,5

2

GM

Eljanov Pavel

UKR

8

3

GM

Libiszewski Fabien

FRA

8

4

GM

Fier Alexandr

BRA

7,5

5

GM

Naroditsky Daniel

USA

7,5

6

GM

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar

AZE

7,5

7

GM

Melkumyan Hrant

ARM

7,5

8

GM

Hansen Eric

CAN

7,5

9

GM

Hammer Jon Ludvig

NOR

7,5

10

GM

Gupta Abhijeet

IND

7,5

11

GM

Stefansson Hannes

ISL

7,5

12

GM

Danielsen Henrik

ISL

7,5

13

GM

Jussupow Artur

GER

7,5

14

GM

Grandelius Nils

SWE

7,5

15

GM

Gao Rui

CHN

7

16

GM

Granda Zuniga Julio E

PER

7

17

GM

Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn

ISL

7

18

GM

Jones Gawain C B

ENG

7

19

GM

Maze Sebastien

FRA

7

20

IM

Norowitz Yaacov

USA

7

21

GM

Grover Sahaj

IND

7

22

GM

Idani Pouya

IRI

7

23

WGM

Khademalsharieh Sarasadat

IRI

7

24

GM

Cornette Matthieu

FRA

7

25

GM

Le Roux Jean-Pierre

FRA

7

26

GM

Rombaldoni Axel

ITA

7

27

GM

Movsesian Sergei

ARM

7

28

IM

Sarkar Justin

USA

7

29

FM

Antal Tibor Kende

HUN

7

30

FM

Rosner Jonas

GER

7

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The ELO-rating is only a guideline and has only limited validity in determining a player’s strength – which the Reykjavik Open proved yet again.

While David Navara with an ELO of 2736 points didn’t even make it to the Top 30, other players like Johaneson (ELO 2212), Antal (ELO 2317), Khadermalsharieh (ELO 2357), or Sarkar (ELO 2376) surpassed him in means of playing performance.

The youngest participant was American Hans Niemann who came off 80th at an incredibly young age of eleven.